Japanese lessons [EN]

2016-12-02 20:33:37 http://telegra.ph/The-many-ways-to-say-I-12-02 Open / Comment

2016-11-22 01:00:58 #vocabulary

ここ そこ あそこ どこ

koko, soku, asoko, and doko are words for places.

ここ - here, near me
そこ - there, near you
あそこ - over there
どこ - where

You can ask far directions by saying:

すみません、 ゆうびんきょく は どこ です か。
Sumimasen, yuubinkyoku wa doko desu ka. - Execuse me, where is the post office?

If you are close by, you can point toword the post office and say:
（ゆうびんきょく は） あそこです。
(Yuubinkyoku wa) asoko desu. - (The post office is) right over there. Open / Comment

2016-11-22 00:59:17 だれの noun

#grammar

We learned how to say things like Mearii san no denwa bangoo (Mary's phone number) and Takeshi san no okaasan (Takeshi's mother). We now learn how to ask who something belongs to. The question word for "who" is dare, and for "whose," we simply add the particle no.

これ は だれ の かばん です か。
Kore wa dare no kaban desu ka. - Whose bag is this?

それ は スー さん の かばん です。
Sore wa Suu san no kaban desu. - That is Sue's bag. Open / Comment

2016-11-16 01:48:48 Open / Comment

2016-11-16 01:48:48 Open / Comment

2016-11-16 01:48:48 Open / Comment

2016-11-16 01:48:47 Open / Comment

2016-11-16 01:48:46 Open / Comment

2016-11-16 01:48:38 #oneWord Open / Comment

2016-11-09 14:41:01 #grammar

この、その、あの、どの＋noun
kono, sono, ano, dono

If you want to be slightly more specific than kore, sore, are you can use kono, sono, ano together with a noun (Note that here the re series must always stand alone while the no series must always be followed by a noun). Thus if you know the item in your hand is a watch (tokee) instead of:

これはいくらですか。
Kore wa ikura desu ka — How much is this?

you can say:
このとけいはいくらですか。
Kono tokee wa ikura desu ka — How much is this watch

Similarly, if you are talking about a watch that is held by the person you are talking to, you can say:

そのとけいはさんぜんえんです。
Sono tokee wa sanzen en desu — That watch is 3,000 yen

And if the watch is far from both the speaker and the listener, you can say:

あのとけいはさんぜんぎひゃくえんです。
Ano tokee wa sanzengohyaku en desu — That watch over there is 3,500 yen.

If you already know that one of several watches is 3,500 yen but do not know which, you can say:

どのとけいがさんぜんごひゃくえんですか。
Dono tokee ga sanzengohyaku en desu ka — Which watch is 3,500 yen.

Since dono is a question word, just like dore discussed above, we cannot use the particle wa with it; we must use ga. Open / Comment